Behind the Stage
by Lt.Henry08
Summary: AU. Axelcentric. Axel's the lead singer in a hit band called Sons of the Twilight, along with Roxas, Riku, and Sora. To everyone else he looks to be living the dream life. So why isn't his life complete without her? Not Aku/roku
1. Scream

I got the idea for a band story featuring Axel as the lead from listening to TokioHotel. Bill Kaulitz's hair reminds me of Axel, and it inspired me. I hope to have this story seperatedfrom all the other fics featuring bands. As to my knowledge, none has Axel as lead. So here it is, my first band story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I own any of the characters in it. I also do not own the song Axel sings (Scream) it is the property of Tokio Hotel. All Fall Down and The Anthem are songs owned by OneRepublic and Good Charlotte respectively.

_Behind the Stage_

* * *

The cool yellow light of an overhead light bulb shines brightly. A lump on the couch stirs and blinks its eyes a few times to adjust to the light. It groans and gets up. A quick glance at the clock shows the time to be a quarter past seven. The 'lump' rushes into a bathroom and splashes itself with cold water.

'_I really shouldn't have partied that long last night.'_

It runs its hand through its hair to fix the bright red spikes. He sighs and leaves the room, and puts on a coat that was previously lying on the floor. He exits the room and walks down a hallway. A voice crackles over the loudspeaker.

"_Axel! Get behind stage now!"_

Axel speeds his walk up and is greeted by three other people waiting impatiently. One has a sour look on his face, most likely from Axel's chronic lateness. His guitar is strapped behind his back and it slips a bit as he bends to pick up Axel's own guitar.

He catches the guitar thrown at him and slings it around his shoulder, but takes it off a moment later.

"What is wrong with you?" The sour person says, "You're not playing guitar tonight?"

"No, just singing. I'm not in the mood, Roxas." Axel replies back. "C'mon, let's get this over with. Do you remember the set?"

"Uh..no actually, it wasn't posted."

"It's 'Scream', then 'All Fall Down', and finally 'The Anthem'." Another band member replies. Roxas scowls at the brown haired man.

"It's awful annoying that you know this stuff and I don't. You're only the drummer!"

Axel tunes out the rest of the argument between the two brothers. Riku will eventually break those two up he thinks. He walks to the front of the rotating stage and stands in front of the microphone stage. A quick check only serves to make sure the mic is plugged in. Satisfied, he turns back to the band.

"We're only playing three songs because two bands before us have opened. We're only the finale. Look alive, here we go."

An announcer came onto the main speakers and riled up the crowd. "Are you ready for the finale?" He asked as the crowd started roaring. "Well here they are, the final act, Sons of the Twilight!"

Axel took a deep breath before running over lines quickly in his head. He quickly gains his composure as the band behind him starts to play their instruments from behind the curtain. The crowd instantly recognizes the song and goes wild. The curtain opens up and the band is thrust out by the platform. He counts down the seconds until the lyrics begin. 3, 2, 1.

"You get up and somebody tells you where to go to.  
When you get there, everybody's telling you what to do.  
Thank you, it's been another bloody Monday  
And no one is asking what you wanted anyway.

Nein, nein, nein, nanana, nein.  
Nein, nein, nein, nanana, nein!

Scream, 'til you feel it.  
Scream, 'til you believe it.  
Scream, and when it hurts you,  
Scream it out loud

Scream, 'til you feel it.  
Scream, 'til you believe it.  
Scream, and when it hurts you,  
Scream it out loud."

He steps back and takes a breath. The rest of the band is furiously pounding away at the various instruments and Riku and Roxas were up to their usual antics. The two were running across the stage and doing their usual routine. He steps back to the microphone and leans in closer. His lips almost touching the microphone.

"Watch out, stay awake, they're lurkin'  
Obsess you, they are always workin'  
Promisin', everything you never asked for.  
And one day it'll be too late and you beg for more

Nein, nein, nein, nanana, nein.  
Nein, nein, nein, nanana, nein!

Scream, 'til you feel it.  
Scream, 'til you believe it.  
Scream, and when it hurts you,  
Scream it out loud.

Scream, 'til you feel it.  
Scream, 'til you believe it.  
Scream, and when it hurts you,  
Scream it out loud."

"Screeaaammm." Riku hums into his own microphone.

"Back to zero, your time's about to come." Axel shakes his head in beat with the song, the crazy part is about to come. He grips the microphone with both hands and pulls it close. "Let them know you're not just anyone."

"Screamm….Scream it out loud." Riku cuts in again.

A few more guitar notes go by and Axel drops his voice in a deep whisper, "Your time's about to come!"

The band blares out its guitars in a loud noise. Roxas drops into heavy riffs accompanied by a furious pounding from the drums by Sora.

"Scream, 'til you feel it.  
Scream, 'til you believe it.  
Scream, and when it hurts you,  
Scream it out loud.

Scream, 'til you feel it.  
Scream, 'til you believe it.  
Scream, and when it hurts you,  
Scream it out loud."

"Shut Up!" Axel yells into the microphone as the band becomes quiet. A second later they start back up again.

"No, can't you feel it  
No, don't you believe it.  
No, and when it hurts you.  
Scream it out loud."

The final guitar riff belts out of Roxas' guitar. Riku drops his guitar, allowing it to hang against him, as he prepares to help Axel with the last lyrics.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. Scream it out loud! Screaammmmmm!" They sing in unison as the song closes.

Axel closes his eyes as the crowd goes wild and he smiles to himself. _Another job well done, now two more to go…_

He stops his thought process when out in the crowd he spots a fleeting glimpse of _her_. No, it can't be, he tells himself. She's all the way back in Minnesota. Still, he couldn't keep his mind off of the thought that maybe, she was here after all.

* * *

_Later that night…._

"Crazy show, Axel." Roxas says as he claps Axel on the back, smiling with booze in his hand.

Sora gets up drunkenly, "Yeah man, you delivered again." He says raising his glass. Riku nods his head in agreement from underneath a woman he picked up after the show.

"Thanks guys. Have fun with your party, I think I'm going to go outside for some fresh air." Despite Roxas' pleas for Axel to stay, he eventually leaves and makes his way down the road away from their hotel.

He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and he crashed into another pedestrian some blocks away. He got up first and offered his hand to help the pedestrian as well. It was then it dawned on him it was a girl, a beautiful one at that, with a familiar face. He gulped as she raised her eyes to meet his. Blue met his Green as he uttered a single sentence.

"It's _you."_

Well, there you have it. I hope you all enjoyed reading it. Please give me feedback as I would really like to continue this story but it won't be possible without support from reviewers.

* * *


	2. Open Your Eyes

Even though I only garnered 1 review with this story, I felt that the 49 hits was sufficient for the continuance. As always I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or its characters. The song in this chapter is titled "Open Your Eyes" and it is the property of Snow Patrol.

* * *

_Open Your Eyes_

"That's all?" She replied back with an annoyed glare. "I haven't seen you in 2 years and you only say is 'you'?"

Axel scratched the back of his head. "Well, what else am I supposed to say to someone who is supposed to be back in Wisconsin?" He exclaimed throwing his arm in the air.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Oh, I don't know. How about a 'how have you been' or 'it's been too long.'" She drawled.

Axel sighed, "So what are you doing here then?"

She shook her head, "Nothing anymore, Axel. I can't believe you. "She walked off with a huff escaping from her pink lips.

Axel watched her walk away without any thoughts of running after her. With an angry kick to a nearby trashcan, he turned and walked back to the way he came. After a few short minutes he entered the suite his band was staying at and he hung up his trench coat.

His mood quickly turned somber when he realized that he blew her off. Badly. The room was eerily quiet. It didn't help his mood one bit.

Riku had gone out for the rest of the night with some girls he found. So there went an intelligent conversation. Roxas was writing lyrics with paper strewn around him and the couch he was sitting on. The kid was too into the writing to care what Axel had to say, hell, he'd probably try to turn it into a song. Sora, the ever-lovin' drummer, was passed out by the mini-bar on the floor. Axel wasn't too surprised that he was. The kid couldn't take alcohol well.

Axel was surprised when Roxas looked up from his paper with a concerned face. Axel went to sit down next to the blonde and sat back with a sigh. The guitarist looked at Axel with an attempt to decipher his friend's foul mood without words.

"You know," Roxas started, "you look like you passed out on the side of the road and someone saw fit to wake you with a good beating." He finished with a smirk. When silence on Axel's part was a response, Roxas furrowed his eyebrows. "That didn't really happen, right?"

Axel shook his head, "Right now I wish that's what happened."

Roxas raised a questioning eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I saw her tonight. I saw her for the first time in two years and I totally blew it. If you don't mind, Rox, I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow."

Axel walked off to his room and slammed the door after him. Roxas ran a hand through his hair and went back to writing, he suddenly found some inspiration. Behind him, Sora stumbled forward after being awoken by the slam.

"Whassamatter?" He slurred.

Roxas glared at him, "Nothing, go back to sleep."

The spiky haired brunette shrugged his shoulders and collapsed head first into the couch. Roxas angrily got up and started towards his own room. Riku walked in at the moment before with a smile plastered on his face.

"Dude, all three of them. I swear, I'm done for a while." He collapsed on the chair opposite the couch with a content sigh.

Roxas shook his head. "The day you give up women for a while will be the day Axel and his girlfriend reconcile."

"That was supposed to be tonight right? How did it go?" Riku asked, suddenly interested in staying conscious.

"Well, not so good. From what I got out of Axel, it went horribly. I think Plan B is going to be necessary." Roxas replied back.

A devious smile played upon Riku's lips. "Already ahead of you, man. I'm going out tomorrow to give her tickets to Saturday's concert."

"Do you think this will work Riku?"

"Of course, none of my plans have failed yet. Now if you'll excuse me…I have to catch up on rest. Lord knows I need it." Riku then tilted his head back and fell unconscious.

Roxas shook his head and retired for the night. If Riku said the plan would work, it would.

* * *

_Saturday_

The arena was going crazy as usual, but Axel lacked his usual fire. For three days all he could think about was her, it was driving him insane. He was three songs into the concert and he had yet to show a stellar performance. On some parts Riku had to step in and make up for his lost soul. The crowd could sense his shattered spirit and began to chant one of the band's most sad songs. The title was Open Your Eyes, and Roxas wrote it after Axel had to tell his girlfriend goodbye when they went on tour.

Axel dropped the guitar on the floor and grasped the microphone stand like he would a lover. He lowered his face to the mic and scanned the crowd. He saw her again. Hopefully this song would carry some meaning.

_"All this feels strange and untrue,  
__and I won't waste a minute without you.  
__My bones ache, my skin feels cold,  
__and I'm getting so tired and so old. "_

Her eyes were completely transfixed on his form. His red hair started falling into his eyes, something that she found incredibly sexy. His green eyes pierced into her eyes and he began the next verse.

_"The anger swells in my guts  
__and I won't feel these slices, and cuts.  
__I want so much to open your eyes,  
__'cause I need you to look into mine."_

The band started playing behind him, but none would help him on this song. They could tell this was his song right now. He needed this.

_"Tell me that you'll open your eyes.  
__Tell me that you'll open your eyes.  
__Tell me that you'll open your eyes.  
__Tell me that you'll open your eyes."_

Sora started to pound on the drums as Riku and Roxas both went into the same guitar riff. Axel threw his head back and looked into the changing lights. He drew back down and took hold of the stand.

_"Get up, get out, get away from these liars,  
__'cause they don't get your soul or your fire.  
__Take my hand, knot your fingers through mine,  
and we'll walk out this dark room for the last time."_

A single tear fell from Axel's green eyes. This song was beginning to get to him.

_"Every minute from this minute now,  
__we can do what we like anywhere.  
__I want so much to open your eyes,  
__'cause I need you to look into mine."_

The band screamed through their instruments again. The crowd swayed to the beat. Axel was back and he could tell she was smiling. This was his way of apologizing.

_"Tell me that you'll open your eyes.  
__Tell me that you'll open your eyes.  
__Tell me that you'll open your eyes.  
__Tell me that you'll open your eyes.  
_

_Tell me that you'll open your eyes.  
Tell me that you'll open your eyes.  
Tell me that you'll open your eyes.  
Tell me that you'll open your eyes. "_

Roxas and Riku stopped strumming and Sora laid his drums down. Axel was going to sing a capella. The crowd grew hushed as Axel prepared himself.

_"All this feels strange and untrue,"_ Axel crooned into the microphone. The crowd lipped the words along with him. _"And I won't waste a minute without you."_

Axel took his hands off the mic and turned his back to the audience. Each of the other band mates were smiling broadly at him. He then turned to the audience again and flashed a big grin.

"Thank you New York City! We are Sons of the Twilight. It's been great performing here. We'll catch you all later."

The platform went dark and the band exited the stage. It was another job well done by the sounds of the fans.

"Hey Axel, heads up man." Riku said when they hit the backstage.

Axel turned and saw her again. When he turned his head back around, his band wasn't there. It was just her and him and he wasn't going to mess this up.

There you have it, Part 2 and you all still haven't found out who the girl is. Well if everyone gives me a review, next chapter I will reveal her. Also, I will be taking suggestions to who it should be. Obviously it would have to be someone with blue eyes as I mentioned that last chapter. So review!


End file.
